Our services

Nick Shackleton-Jones has led learning innovation at organisations including the BBC, BP, Siemens, PA Consulting and most recently as CLO (Uk) Deloitte. In 2018 he won the LPI’s prestigious lifetime contribution award for services to the industry.

About my book

Our mission is to measurably improve the performance and experience of your people.

Shifting the focus from learning objectives to performance outcomes can make all the difference in a learning project. Oftentimes that is accomplished at the start of a project, by asking the question “What changes could we measure, if this programme were a success?“

Too often Learning & Development slips into educational ritual: finding ever-more cost effective ways of pushing content out to people, rather than discovering how to help them with their job. We know how to change that.

Having sold and bought Big Consulting services, I understand that the commitment can be daunting. Our services are clearly described, and come in three sizes: Small Things, Medium Things, Large Things.

Small services may be a single workshop. Medium services – regular support with programme design. Large services – programme design & delivery or learning strategy & transformation. Below are some examples of services; all projects are considered, and we can work on a time & materials basis, or against specific deliverables:

SMALL THINGS

Spark Sessions

Perhaps your team would like some inspiration?

Over the years I have given hundreds of speeches & keynotes to audiences ranging from thousands to a dozen, on topics ranging from the Future of Learning, through Human-Centered Learning Design & Disruptive Thinking.

There are some short clips in the video section, if you’d like to see for yourself.

Human-Centered Design (5Di) Workshops

Designing solutions that meet the needs of your learners can make a huge difference.

Although that might sound obvious, educational approaches tend to focus on content rather than context, topics rather than tasks.

I created the 5Di approach to Human-Centered Learning Design to help organisations shift from education to learning. It’s a tried and tested methodology now in use by some of the world’s largest organisations.

I can run half day workshops, one day workshops, or support throughout a project (see below). Workshop prices include 20 signed copies of ‘How People Learn’ and a 90-minute follow-up chat.

MEDIUM THINGS

Design Co-pilot

I have always aimed to build the capability of teams that I work with.

The best way to do this is working alongside a learning team on the design of a programme. Some techniques – such as audience analysis or design workshops – are best understood first-hand.

Depending on the size of the project we can work with you for a set number of days per week, or at critical points in the process.

Facilitation & Delivery

When you design an experience, the quality of the facilitation can make a big difference. It’s the human element, after all.

I have facilitated programmes for executives in multinationals, and first-level leaders in tool-sheds. Some have been dramatic, some more didactic.

Programme objectives have ranged from induction, through leadership, culture-change and diversity.

The key, I have found, is not the content but connecting with people.

LARGE THINGS

Programme Design

Much of my time, in corporate and consulting, was spent designing and delivering learning programmes.

A good programme impacts performance as well being a great experience. To achieve that you need to use

performance consulting to create useful resources, and
experience design to create memorable events.

You also need to stay close to both your audience and your stakeholders.

This is how we design and deliver programmes.

Strategy & Transformation

These days, many organisations are realising that they need to reimagine Talent & Learning if they are going to get the results they want: if they are going to be able to attract, retain and grow talent rather than just turning the handle on conventional content.

It helps to have a critical friend, someone with first-hand experience of driving strategy and innovation in other organisations.

How People Learn: A New Model of Learning and Cognition to Improve Performance and Education

How can I design training so that it makes a real difference to employees’ skills and development? This book gives L&D professionals everything they need to build effective learning experiences.

How People Learnprovides L&D professionals a new way of thinking about learning by exploring what happens when we learn. It shows how to apply insights from neuroscience, human behaviour and artificial intelligence (AI) to learning design including tips on how to interest, excite and engage staff in training. Using the author’s '5Di model’, this book demonstrates how to define, design and deploy training into existing workflows so it works both for and with employees. It also explores how simulations can be used to replicate a real-world challenge as closely as possible.

The second edition features new material on learning in a hybrid world, and how to manage skills development and performance now that work, workplaces and workers have changed. It includes more practical guidance on building programmes with user-centred design and covers developments in the connection between learning and cognition, alongside case studies and examples from companies such as BP and the BBC.

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